New website shows hazardous waste sites

A new online map makes it easier for people to find out details about hazardous waste sites throughout Missouri, including some sites in Marion, Monroe and Ralls counties.

DANNY HENLEYdanny.henley@courierpost.com

A new online map makes it easier for people to find out details about hazardous waste sites throughout Missouri, including some sites in Marion, Monroe and Ralls counties.

The interactive map developed by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) puts the sites in several categories, from ones undergoing remediation to those that have already been cleaned up and are available for public use.

The website features summaries of past or current problems at the sites, as well as Internet links to more detailed documents.

Until recently, most information about Missouri's hazardous waste sites was available only by reviewing paper documents.

In Hannibal, one of the sites pinpointed is at the corner of South 11th Street and Collier (Warren Barrett Drive), which is the former site of the Hannibal Manufactured Gas Plant. The facility manufactured gas from coal from 1911 to 1930 until it switched to natural gas. According to the DNR, “contamination originated from on-site operations related to coal gasification producing chemical residuals.”

In 1998, United Cities Gas Company began cleanup of the site, which included removal of two tar wells, three purifier boxes, one surface soil “hot spot” and one oil seal relief tank.

Before the cleanup was declared complete in 2008, a gravel cap was placed over the northern portion of the site and poplar trees planted across the southern portion. While the cleanup is finished the site has a handful of use limitations: No domestic use of groundwater, no drilling or use of groundwater, no industrial use of groundwater and non-residential use.

Another site where a former manufactured gas plant operated in Hannibal is also on the list. The plant, located at U.S. 36 and Third Street, operated for approximately 30 years. However, a city directory indicates the property was being used commercially as far back as 1887.

While a preliminary assessment of the property was completed in December 1997, a site inspection sampling “could not be completed because of site inaccessibility due to steep topography, utility lines, and coverage by US Hwy 36.”

Because most of the gas plant site is now “essentially capped by Highway 36, contaminant migration and risk of exposure on-site is minimal.” However, a site inspection was undertaken to determine if off-site contamination merited further investigation or if a “removal action” was warranted due to health risks for residents at adjacent properties. While some carcinogenic chemical compounds were found, the level of concentration was not above levels found at other Hannibal locations and thus was deemed acceptable.

Also included is the site of the former Display Center at 929 Warren Barrett Dr. The site has been utilized for a number of purposes over time: wood working, blacksmith, printing, dry kiln, auto repair, bus barn and various manufacturing uses. According to the DNR, an environmental site assessment indicated vinyl chloride and total petroleum hydrocarbons-diesel in groundwater. Soil samples taken near a closed in-place fuel oil underground storage tank suggested a spill had occurred.

The property, which has since been cleaned up, was included in the city’s Commercial Flood Buyout Program.

Not just sites that either are being used or were used as commercial property appear on the DNR’s site map. An Army National Guard training area, located off of County Road 409, is included. The 19-acre site is located on private property currently used for agriculture purposes.

According to records, that “munitions response site” was used by Company L 138th Infantry of the Missouri Army National Guard from 1927 to 1938 for bivouac and small arms training. Less than an acre of the site was used as a target area. During a site investigation conducted in 2011, one sample located in the target area had a lead concentration exceeding the Missouri residential screening level.

A “no further action” letter for use of munitions and explosives in the training area was issued on Dec. 3, 2012.

The DNR’s hazardous waste sites map can be found at: https://www.dnr.mo.gov/molts/gov/